Refrigerating apparatus



May 25, 1943- 1 R. H. swAR'r 2,319,890

REFRIGERAT ING APPARATUS o H fa 32 Fvg' J5: ya 0 JNVENTOR 12M/M152: l(-5W/IRT May 25, 1943. R. H. swAR'r 2,319,890

I REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 25, 1940 5 Sheets-sheet 2 May 25,1943. R. H. swAR-r REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 25. 1940 5Sheets-Sheet 5 FEM/web l# .wam'r BY REFRIGERATING APPARATUS ATTORNEY.

May 25, 1943. R. H. swAR-r REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 2 5, 19405 sheets-Sheet 5 le/Ma ll. wmzr WIJZ. M,

ATTORNEY.

ous refrigerant coming Patented May 25, 1943 UNITED STATE REFRIGERATINGA PPARATUS .a

Richard H. Swart;l Detroit, Mich., asslgnorgto Nash-KelvinatorCorporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Maryland ApplicationNovember 25, 1940, serial No. sssgsn 1 (01462-99).

3 Claims.

This invention relates to rerigerating apparatus, and more particularlyto such type of apparatus as is used for the refrigeration and storageof bottled beverages and the like.

One of the objects of is to provide an improved refrigerator cabinetwherein a compartment is to .be maintained at a substantially uniformrefrigerating temperature throughout and to arrange to accomplish thisin a new and improved manner.

Another ob'jectvis` to provide an improved refrigerating system formaintaining a refrigerating temperature throughout a compartment whereinthe cooling element is located outside the compartment and Acomprises arefrigerant evaporating conduit secured in heat exchange relation to aplurality of the sides of the'compartment. I

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedrefrigerant accumulating element at the outletof a refrigerantevaporating element which functions not only as a refrigerantdisengaging means, but also as an effective heatI absorbing means aidingin maintaining a refrigerating temperature in a compartment to becooled. v 4

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved refrigerantaccumulating element at the outlet lof a refrigerant evaporating elementwhereinan inclined disengaging zone is provided for separating theliquid from the gasefrom the evaporating element and wherein theseparated liquid refrigerant is collected in a heat absorbing zone toassist'the evaporating element in refrigerating a refrigerator storagecompartment.-

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved doorarrangement and seal therefor for gaining access to and sealing thestorage compartmen of my refrigerator.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being hadto the accompanyingdrawings wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of a preferred the present inventionI form -of refrigerant Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view-taken along line 'l-l of Fig. 2;` Fig. 8 is an end elevational view ofa modified form of the invention with parts broken away and parts shownin cross-section; Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of a modifiedvention with parts broken away; and Y have .provided a beverage Lso somekind Fig. l0 is a cross-sectional view taken along line Iii-I0 of Fig.9.

In accordance with the present invention, I

cooler cabinet wherein a storage compartment is cooled by a long sinuousrefrigerant evaporating conduit placed in heat exchange relation withthe outside of a box-like liner forming thecompartment. This conduit isarranged so as to pass refrigerant in thermal exchange with the bottomand as many sides of the liner as may be necessary to refrigerateproperly the interior of the' compartment. In a system ofthis kind,.during certain periods of operation, some liquid refrigerant may becarried through the conduit. Hence of liq 'd accumulator or trap isfpro-A vided at the outlet of the coil to prevent return of liquidrefrigerant to the compresson Ac-v cordingly I have devised an improvedrefrger-l ant accumulator'which not only eectiv'ely disengages gaseousfrom liquid or vaporous refrigerant but alsoV serves as a heat absorbingsystem itself. This accumulator comprises a long straight conduit closedat both ends and slightly larger in cross-section than that used in therefrigerant evaporating element. This conduit` is secured in heatvexchange. relation to the outside of the liner of the storagecompartment above the outlet end of the evaporating element and isinclined to facilitate the collection of liquid refrigerant in its lowerend. 'I'he upper end of the accumulating conduit has an openingcommunicating with the outlet end of the evaporating element for theadmission of vaporous, liquid and gaseous refrigerant. Some distancedown the inclined conduit another opening is provided embodiment of myinvention with parts broken away and parts shown in cross-section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view with parts broken away and partsshown in cross-section;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view with parts bre-ken away and partsshown in cross-section;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary crosszsectional view in perspective ofthe breaker strip and lid support;

'casing 22 and an through which separated gaseous refrigerant iswithdrawn. The lower end of the accumulating conduit serves as acollecting zone for the separated liquid refrigerant which is thenutilized to absorb heat from the beverage cooler storage compartment.The accumulator 'provides-a disengagingspace. of great width and.relatively small height. A

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 20 designates in general arefrigerator cabinet adaptedfor the refrigeration and storage of botlikeeither in a Wet or dry state. The cabinet includes an outer sheet metalinner sheet metal casing 24 which is suspendedwithin the outercasing'from a horizontal wood frame 26. The latter is se-y accumulatorused in my inmember 12 in place.

cured to'the upper edge of vthe outer casing and is partially covered bymetal trim 21. .The inner casing 24 serves as the liner of a storagecompartment 28. Insulation 29 is interposed between the inner and outercasings' around the sides of the compartment 28. A sheet metal partition30 cooperates with the bottom of casing 24 to form a space below thestorage compartment in which insulation '32 is inserted. Below partition30 is located a machine compartment 34 enclosed on front and sides bythe outer metal casing 22, the back of the machine compartment beingleft open. The outer casing 22 is rigidly supported on pcdestals 36which also support an angle iron frame structure 38 for carrying acondensing unit. A metal bracket 40 between the angle iron frame workand the botttom of the storage compartment serves as additionalsupporting means. A valve controlled drain member 4I is provided foremptying tank 24 when desired.

The storage compartment 28 has an opening 42 at the top through whichaccess to the interior of the compartment may be had. This opening isprovided with a rubber gasket 44 that extends around the entireperiphery of the opening. This gasket has a horizontally extending upperportion 48 and a verticallyextending lower portion 48. The upper portionof the gasket is fastened to the top of the cabinet by means of aninverted L-shaped retaining member 50. Part of the upper portion 46 iscaught beneath the retaining member 50while the rest is brought backover the retaining member, thereby concealing it, and down into theopening 42. The lower portion 48 is positionedA in a cutaway or recessedportion of the wood frame member 26 and has a relatively thin extension52 at its lowest end which is adapted to be secured over the top of thelining member 24 in a manner to be described.

Within the opening 42 of the compartment 28 there is also provided agasketed rail or ledge 56 for supporting 1ids.` This gasketed railcomprises an inverted L-shaped member 60 whose upper portion iscompletely enclosed by a at top rubber gasket 62. The latter has adepending lower portion 64 which, along with the extension 52 of thegasket 44, is rmly secured between the mem ber 60 and the top of thecasing 24 to the wood frame 26 by means of screw members 55.

Supported upon the gasketed rail 56 within the opening to thecompartment 28 are two pairs of hinged lids 58 which areA adapted tocompletely close the opening 42. The lid proper comprises a hard rubbertop 68 having an annular depending portion 68 and cross-ribs 69.' Toobtain a better, sealing contact with the gasketed rail B than aorded bythe hard rubber, an annular strip of soft rubber is formed ing portionB8. Insulation 1| is placed within the recessed portions of the lid anda sheet metal retaining member 12 is pressed into the bottom. A handle14 is secured to the lid by means of a bolt 16 and nut 11 which alsohelps to retain Two of these lids are hingedly fastened together bymeans of an inverted U-shaped soft rubber strip 18. Screw members 19, incooperation with threaded members 80 in the lid proper, serve to secureone leg of the strip 18 to each lid. To lend rigidity to theconstruction metal strips 8| are placed between the rubber strip 18 andthe hard rubber lid. Protuberances or beads 82 on the lower ends of thelegs of the rubber hinge abut each other and serve to keep the lidsproperly spaced, On

- one of the pairs of hinged 'lids there is provided a integral with thedepend` rubber cushioning gasket -83 which serves as sealing meansbetween adjacent lids of the different pairs at the center of theopening 42. This gasket comprises two hollow portions 84 and 85. A stripof rigid material 81 is inserted into the hollow portion 84 and issecured to the end of the lid. The other hollow portion is much largerand is very flexible. It abuts the end of the lid forming part of theother pair and serves to seal the two pair of lids together againstpassage of air .and moisture therebetween into the compartment 28. Thissealing gasket 83 eliminates the necessity of having a cross bar at thecenter of the opening 42, thereby facilitating loading of thecompartment 28 upon removal of the two pairs of lids.

The compartment 28 is maintained at a refrigs -erating temperature by arefrigerating apparatus which includes a heat absorbing element 1 and acondensing unit 9|. The heat absorbing element includes my improvedaccumulating element, designated by the numeral 92. The element 90comprises beside the accumulating ele ment 92 a single continuousrefrigerant evaporating conduit 94 which is directly secured to theoutside of liner 24 by any suitable means, such as soldering. The actualwrapping of the liner with the conduit is effected by first bending theentire length of the conduit in a horizontal plane into sinuous sectionswhich are to be associated with the respective sides and bottom of thebox-like liner 24.V Then the liner 24 is placed on top of the coiledconduit and the i various sections are folded upwardly 'and secured tothe sides of the liner. In the present embodiment the conduit isarranged so that refrigerant will first circulate through section 96 ofthe conduit secured to one end of the liner, then to section 98 alongone side of liner, thence to the bottom section |00 and finally up theother side through section |02 to the accumulati-ng element 92.

My improved accumulating element comprises a straight conduit or tube|04 which is closed at l both' ends and which extends nearly the entirelength of one side of the liner 24 in heat exchange relation therewith.The conduit is secured to the liner ina slightly sloping or inclinedposition in order to collect liquid in the lower end. The upper end ofthe accumulating conduit is connected to the inlet end |06 of therefrigerant evaporating conduit 94 which projects somewhat into the tube|04 in order to prevent liquid collecting in the tube from flowing back.An outlet |01 to the accumulating conduit.' |04 is provided abouthalfway up the tube and is connected to a conduit |08 leading to thecondensing unit 9|. By placing the inlet |06 and outlet |01 -in thesepositions a path of some length is provided in which the liquid andgaseous refrigerant may become disengaged.- Furthermore, by

placing the liquid inlet at the upper end the full charge ofrefrigerant.

- engaging space.

terior surface of the entire length of the conduit parts.

||1 from which it is delivtube ||8 which controls livers it to. areceiver ered to a small diameter the flow of the liquid to th element90. The small diameter tube and the vapor return conduit |08 arepreferably secured in thermal exchange -its open upper end and liquidsupply conduits H8, respectively. To

control the operation of the condensing unit a thermostat is provided.This thermostat is rendered responsive to .the evaporating element 90 bymeans of a thermo bulb located in a well |28 vwhich is preferablysoldered to both the tank 24 and the conduit section 98. If desired thebulb may be secured to lthe tank or to the refrigerant conduit alone.cess to the thermostat |26 to adjust its setting may be had through aremovable panel |30 on the front of the cabinet 20.

. As the liquid refrigerant delivered to the evaporating element 90 bythe condensing unit 9| circulates through conduit 94 it. absorbs heatfrom the compartment 28 and part of it is converted into refrigerantvapor. By the time this mixture of liquid and gaseous refrigerant4reaches and the entrance to the theend of conduit 94 accumulator 92'while it may be predominantly vapor it nevertheless contains someliquid refrigerant, the quantity depending upon the initial This mixtureis projected into the accumulating conduit |04. As it progressesdownwardly liquid refrigerant is precipitated out and collects on thewalls of the conduit I 04. This separated liquid then flows toward thelower end of the conduit out of the way of possibl'e entrainmentbyincoming gas. The gaseous refrigerant is withdrawn through-vaporconduit |08 to th condensing unit. It will be observed that the zonebetween the inlet |06 and outlet |01 of the accumulator, being ofsubstantial length and cross-section, affords an excellent dis- At, thesame time, s ince the in# becomes wet with separated liquid refrigerantand the lower end is filled with the accumulated liquid, a considerablecontribution is made to the heat absorption characteristics of theevaporating element 90.

In Fig. 8 there is shown meral |30. The modified form has a largerstorage compartment, designated by the numeral |3I.

which has an access opening |32 in the top of the same width as in thedescribed vcabinet' 20 being adapted to receive in the samemanner thevlids 58. A top wall. |34 covers the interposcd. Otherwise the cabinetconstruction is essentially the same as that of 'cabinet 20 andcorresponding numbers designate corresponding A more extendedevaporating element |40 is utilized to refrigerate compartment |3|, anadditional section |42 being added, thereby rendering the compartmentcompletely enclosed by a refrigerant evaporating conduit on all foursides and bottom. The operation of the system is the a 'modification ofmy improved refrigerator cabinet, designated by nutemperature of the Acvsame as -that usedin connection with cabinet 20,

previously described.

In Figs. 9 and 10 is shown a modified form of conduit-connected inseries to the outlet my improved accumulating element. The constructionof this modified form is such as to be readily and cheaply man factured.It comprises a conduitwhich like conduit I 04 is secured to the liner ofthe storage compartment in an inclined position. Its lower end is closedand into are inserted the outlet end |52 of the rest of the evaporatingelement and the end |54 of a vapor return conduit. The end |52 projectsinto conduit |50 somewhat further than conduit |54. These two conduits|52 and |54 are of smaller cross-section than conduit |50 and are ofsuch a size that together they fit tightly into the open end |5'| ofconduit |50. A completely fluid tight ing the end of conduit |50 aroundthe two conduits |52 and |54 and sealing thereto with solder or thelike. The mixture of liquid refrigerant and gaseous refrigerant enteringthe conduit |50 |52 separates into its liquid and gaseous components,the liquid collecting along the lower end of the conduit |50 while thegas is withdrawn through conduit |54.

It will therefore an effective accumulator which occupies little morespace than the levaporator proper so that the insulation may be uniformin size and the inner and outer walls need not be bulged to accommodateit. Also it will be noted that the lids or doors effectively seal thecabinet while they are arranged to quickly gain access to the storagecompartment.

Although only a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated,and that form described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilledin the art that various modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit 'of the invention or from the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a boxlike liner, a serpentinerefrigerant evaporating from conduits 'conduit in heat exchange relationwith said liner,

and a second and larger refrigerant evaporating of said iirst conduitand secured in a substantially straight line tilted position in heatexchange relation to said liner above the outlet end of said firstconduit, said second conduit having its inlet and outlet located in thehigher portion thereof.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising an inner lining, an outer casing,a refrigerant conduit secured to the outer surface of said inner lining,a

refrigerant A accumulator whose Width in cross section does not greatlyexceed the width in cross section of. said conduit associated with theoutlet of said conduit and being positioned between said in contact withsaid` inner liningand outer casing lining and insulation positionedbetween said conduit and outer casing.

A3. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, in combination, a cabinet havinga box-like liner, an

`outer casing and insulation between said liner and casing;

a refrigerant evaporator coil secured to the outer wall of said lineradjacent said insulation, a second refrigerant conduit slightly largerin cross section than the first named conduit secured to the outer wallof said liner and one end thereof located on a higher elevation than theother end thereof and being arranged t0 store liquid inthe latter endthereof.

RICHARD H. SWART.

seal is obtained by pressbe noted that I have provided-

